Oniichan
by Chatterpie
Summary: A continuation of yoong's Accidental Keeper, with her permission. No shonenai, yaoi, slash, or citrus fruit


A/N: This is my first Fanfic, go me! To understand this, go read Accidental Keeper by yoong', it's absolutely awesome. This is a follow-up chapter, between Gojyo and Goku. No yaoi, shonen-ai, or anything like that. Be nice, read, review and all that.

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Saiyuki. Although if Gojyo ever goes up for auction, a wild hungry Goku couldn't keep me away.

"Thanks, babe," Gojyo muttered, accepting his beer from the room service girl. Goku frowned, golden eyes clouding with worry. Something was up with the kappa, he hadn't asked the girl when her shift ended, if she was local, or even what her name was.

"Gojyo," he asked tentatively. Crimson eyes flicked towards him as Gojyo set down the beer to take out a cigarette. "Yeah?"

Goku's gaze dropped. What should he say? He slumped down and sat on the the end of Gojyo's bed, eyes cast confusedly out of the window next to him. No sun shone through this window, and his sun wasn't there to guide him either. No, that was wrong. Sanzo was just next door. Still, a melancholic sigh welled up inside him. The monk felt much further away.

Now it was Gojyo's turn to be concerned. "What's up?" he askedm walking over. Having picked up his beer, again, he now attempted to light his cigarette one-handed. He managed to get it lit, but the Zippo lighter slipped from his grasp as he tried to close it. He sowre automatically, heedless that Goku was a minor, and went to catch it.

As the lighter fell past his down-cast gaze, Goku's hand shot out to catch it, his palm stifling the flame. Gojyo swore again and grabbed his hand. both beer and lighter laying forgotten. Goku, however, stared numbly at his hand. _I remember this, _he thought, _Reaching out for something bright, feeling it burn. No, it was cool...were there two? _As he argued with his own memory, it replied with more confused, unfamiliar images. Then a head obscured his view of his own burned skin, with hair as bright as firelight. _Oh, that's right. _It clicked into focus then. The first, the one that burned, had been a fire. The second was Gojyo's scarlet hair. This memory was new to him, foreign, as were all his memories of the three days he was supposedly unconscious.

Gojyo waved his own hand in front of the child's eyes.

"Hello? Baka, snap out of it." He favoured Goku with another one of his rare concerned glances, while the boy's hand lay dwarved between his palms. Goku blinked a couple of times, seeing again Gojyo defending him from Sanzo's fan, even his gun, felt his comfort after that initial waking to a strange face. Hakkai's face! So alien to him, and Sazo's so terrifying! Bewildered, he gazed at Gojyo.

"You told me I slept," he murmured.

"What?"

"Yesterday, when I woke up, you told me I'd been asleep for three days. But I remember..."

The third curse of the hour slipped between Gojyo's lips, and he got a strange, pained look in his eyes.

"I...I didn't recognise you, or anyone," Goku murmured, "and I was scared. Of Sanzo!"

He sounded so full of self-reproach as he turned his teary eyes on Gojyo, that the kappa sat in the window next to Goku, and slung an arm around his shoulders, ruffling the boy's chocolate-brown hair.

"To be fair," he muttered, taking the cigarette from his lips and holding it between strong but slender fingers, "the first time you met him, to your knowledge," he hastily added, "you were scraped, bruised, and battered, had been woken by a guy whose hand glowed, and Sanzo decided to beat you with a fan and aim a gun at your head."

"But still-"

"But nothing."

"But it was _Sanzo!_" The boy's voice rose, as if no power could compete with the mighty name of Sanzo. "I should have known. I should have...felt something." He trailed off glumly.

"Reality's a bitch," Gojyo replied, just as he had three years ago, to a very different brunette1. "If you didn't feel anything, it's not 'cause you didn't care enough."

Goku looped an arm around his friend's waist and buried his face miserably against his side. Funny how, now he remembered, hugging Gojyo seemed so natural. The redhead raised no objections either.

He had no idea how long they sat like that, until a thought suddenly occured to him.

"So that's why you act so weird when I call you Onii-chan," he murmured. When he got no response, he looked up at Gojyo to see the redhead's eyes closed, head leaning back against the windowframe. A tendril of smoke wound its way up, and he looked down to see the burning cigaretter still held between his fingers. Delicately, Goku removed the half-smoked Hi-Lite and stubbed out the tip in the ashtray by Gojyo's feet, careful not to crush it, so the kappa could finish it in the morning. Then he yawned and resettled his head against his friend's side.

Something was wrong. Hakkai couldn't put his finger on it, but something was not normal. He walked back along the hall, cup of tea in hand. As he passed Sanzo's room, he pressed his ear to the door. Silence. That was ok, Sanzo was either meditating or asleep. Or brooding over Goku's "betrayal" of him. Hakkai smiled to himself. Little did Sanzo realise that this black mood of his only proved that he had a soft spot for the boy. Then Hakkai crossed the hall and listened at Gojyo's door. Nothing. No bloodcurdling youkai battlecries, nor squeals of pain. But no good noise, either. No yells of "Baka saru!" or "Gokiburi!" No furniture being crashed into, and come to think of it, no bullet holes in the door. This either meant that they had both fallen asleep, or something much worse.

Silently, he pushed the door open and looked inside, green eyes scanning the room. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them, Gojyo's head against the windowpane, arm around Goku. And the young earth youkai? His head had slipped down to rest against Gojyo's hip, and his arms loosely circled the hanyou's waist. Smiling again at the sight, Hakkai set his tea down on the table and went over to them. He spotted a nasty burn on Goku's hand, and his smile dissolved into a frown. He gently took Goku's and examined it, then applied a little healing Chi. The boy's golden eyes opened, still bleary from sleep, and he looked up at his friend. Hakkai helped him to his feet and over to his bed. As he was tucking the boy in, Goku asked him "How come he was so nice to me?"

Off Hakkai's questioning look, he tried again. "When I didn't remember you guys, why did he do stuff like stop Sanzo from hitting me with the fan? Why didn't he just call me a stupid ape and leave me be?"

Hakkai paused for a moment. "Do you remember the dog you told me about?"2 he began, "the stray you brought into the temple." Off Goku's nod, he continued "Would you let me hurt that dog?" The boy looked unsure. "If that dog was looking at you with eyes that said no-one had ever petted him, or fed him properly, and all he wanted was a little compassion?" He smiled when the boy shook his head. "You're very good at that look. Now get some sleep."

Standing up, Hakkai went back to the window and shook Gojyo's shoulder a little. The hanyou regarded him, eyes so like Goku's had been a moment ago, that Hakkai bit back a grin. "What?" Gojyo whispered, mindful of his roommate even in his befuddled state. Hakkai guided him off the sill and onto the bed, pulling the blanket over him. Gojyo grunted his thanks, then rolled over and went back to sleep. Hakkai picked up the ashtray from the window, noticing the half-smoked cigarette. He turned, then looked down, hearing his foot connect with something metal. Bending to pick up the offending item, a beer can, he realised it was full, and his eyebrows rose as he automatically retrieved the lighter next to it. Then he laid these on the table, wry smile reappearing. _My my, an unopened beer and an unfinished cigarette, _he mused, _will wonders never cease?_

Still smiling, he picked up his tea and left the two to their sleep.

Owari

1 Gensomaden Saiyuki vol. 5

2 Same


End file.
